CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Boredom-busting activity books for the holiday season

Keep your youngsters out of mischief during the summer holidays with a super selection of activity books guaranteed to inform, educate and entertain

Age 3 plus:

Sounds of the Skies

Moira Butterfield and 
Jonathan Woodward

IMAGINE you could fly around the world in the blink of an eye! Step into the pages of this stunning book and enjoy seeing and listening to some of the most amazing birds on our planet.

There are six truly wild sounds to marvel at as you journey through a host of fascinating wildlife facts and fabulous illustrations. Press the sound symbols on every page spread and hear the mighty bald eagle calling from the sky, an ostrich booming in the Serengeti, a tawny owl hooting in the silent night, and a Chinese nightingale chirping in the mountain trees. 

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Packed with exciting discoveries, unforgettable bird calls, a map of the world to put each bird in focus, and Jonathan Woodward’s richly coloured and detailed illustrations, this innovative and creative book is the perfect gift for young explorers.

 (Little Tiger Press, hardback, £14.99)

Age 6 plus:

Animal Wordsearches

Phillip Clarke and The Boy Fitz Hammond

THE word is out… If you’re looking for a book to keep young brains ticking over during the summer holiday, Usborne’s bright and busy animal wordsearch is guaranteed to both inform and entertain.

Children can test their word and problem solving with over 100 animal-themed wordsearches, covering animals of the world from aardvarks, sharks, tree frogs and zombie worms to from dogs, rabbits, sloths and giraffes. With a gallery of The Boy Fitz Hammond’s fabulous, multi-coloured animal illustrations, the wordsearches take youngsters from the Atlantic Ocean to the Florida Everglades, across the African grasslands and on to the Amazon rainforest and Antarctica.

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The searches gradually get harder throughout the book and are ideal for quiet times alone or for playing with friends and family. And don’t despair if you can’t find all the words as he answers are provided at the back of the book. A welcome gift for young wordsmiths!

(Usborne, paperback, £5.99)

Age 6 plus:

Summer Puzzle Pad

Kirsteen Robson

HERE'S a boredom-busting puzzle pad that’s guaranteed to keep your youngsters out of mischief this summer! The fun-packed, gorgeously illustrated and designed Summer Puzzle Pad contains over 100 picture, word and number puzzles which can be enjoyed alone or shared with friends.

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From creepy-crawly anagrams, a beach wordsearch and a maze leading to a secret den, to spotting identical fish at an aquarium, joining the dots to find a farmyard animal and finding out whose kite string has broken, these summer-themed puzzles are fun and challenging. And if you’re stumped, you can turn to the answers at the back of the book. Ideal for long journeys or rainy days!

(Usborne, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus:

Little First Stickers Seashore

Jessica Greenwell and Stephanie Fizer Coleman

IT'S time to get stuck in! Little ones will love getting their hands on this colourful first sticker book and discovering all the amazing things to do, and creatures to see on the seashore.

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Visit a sandy beach, add crabs and starfish to rock pools, see sea birds and puffins fly high in the sky, dive into the ocean with sea otters and lots more in this fascinating book which offers both entertainment and information.

With over 240 stickers of animals, plants, and fish to decorate the pages, including seals, otters, turtles, cormorants, crabs and lots of other interesting sea creatures, this is the perfect introduction to the wonders of the seaside.

(Usborne, paperback, £5.99)

Age 3 plus:

First Pen Control

Jessica Greenwell, Damien Barlow and Lisa Barlow

JOIN a host of little animals on a journey of writing discovery! Learning to control a pen or pencil on a page is one of the hardest skills a young child must master if they are to begin writing letters and numbers. It takes time and a lot of practice so this Usborne Early Years Wipe-Clean book is the ideal first step.

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The traceable lines include all the different shapes and movements needed to form the letters of the alphabet, and the starting dots encourage little ones to move their pen in the right direction. And the durable, wipe-clean pages allow them to trace over the pictures to practise the movements and shapes again and again. Fun activities involve drawing straight and wavy lines, tracing over circles and spirals, and simple puzzles featuring a cast of quirky animal characters. And with a special wipe-clean pen and helpful notes and tips for grown-ups at the back included, this is the perfect starter package for your budding wordsmiths!

(Usborne, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus:

Poppy and Sam’s 
Noisy Tractor

Sam Taplin and Stephen Cartwright

THE adventures of farmer’s children, Poppy and Sam, have been a family favourite for over 30 years and now the two little rascals are back for some noisy fun!

In recent years, Usborne has given the evergreen stories in this enchanting series a bright and colourful makeover for a new generation of little ones… without losing the magic of the original titles. The books feature the original artwork of the late Stephen Cartwright and are full of that special child-appeal which has seen the Poppy and Sam stories sell million copies throughout the world.

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In this super new press-the-page sounds book, we find Ted’s out-of-control tractor causing chaos on the farm as it crashes through fences and careers into the pond! Can Poppy and Sam help to save the day? Little ones will love pressing the buttons to hear sounds that bring the story to life… Rusty the dog barking, Dolly the carthorse neighing, and the tractor chugging along.

This gentle story, with its fun sounds, is full of timeless charm, and the good news is that there is still the added fun of finding the hidden Little Yellow Duck on every page!

(Usborne, board book, £12.99)

Age 2 plus:

Under the Sea 
Matching Games

Kate Nolan and Gareth Lucas

IT'S never too early to encourage young mind skills… And this fun and simple board game for children aged two and over is perfect for helping to develop recognition, memory and communication skills.

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The sturdy box set contains 36 vibrantly illustrated picture cards, four bingo boards and a book with instructions and lots of fascinating facts about creatures that live under the sea. With bright and colourful cards to match and talk about, and four different boards to use for games, there is guaranteed fun all the way with this super box of tricks.

So get ready to meet your match and learn lots more about the sea creatures we all know and love… dolphins, walruses, turtles, penguins, jellyfish, crabs, octopus… and sharp-toothed sharks!

(Usborne, box set, £7.99)

Age one plus:

Animal Homes

Becky Davies and Lara Paulussen

LET'S explore! There’s a whole world of nature ready to pop up before your eyes in this bright, colourful and beautifully created pop-up book for the very youngest readers.

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Little ones can find out which animal lives where as they explore high and low to find honey bees’ nests made from honeycomb, a cosy home for baby mice, monkeys swinging high in the treetops, sea turtles resting on coral reefs, a mother bird taking a rest, and Arctic foxes snuggling in their snow shelter. With gorgeous illustrations by Lara Paulussen, Becky Davies’ playful rhyming text and simple, fascinating facts on every page, this stylish pop-up book is the perfect way to explore the natural world of wonders.

(Little Tiger Press, board book, £10.99)

Age one plus:

ABC Nature: Touch and Trace

Nicola Edwards and Thomas Elliott

GIVE your little ones a hands-on vocabulary lesson with this bold and beautiful board book. From acorn to zebra, giraffe to penguin, and cloud to volcano, the natural world springs to alphabetical life as little ones touch and trace each tactile letter on their fully illustrated journey of word discovery.

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Inspired by the beauty of the great outdoors, ABC Nature: Touch and Trace will help to develop your child’s vocabulary and hand to eye co-ordination as well as encouraging a lifelong love of nature. The ideal book to shape up for the future!

(Little Tiger Press, board book, £9.99)

Age from birth:

Bear & Mouse: 
Start the Day and Time for Bed

Nicola Edwards and Maria Neradova

FROM morning to night, every day is full of adventure! Join best friends Bear and Mouse as they start and end their day with two gorgeously illustrated and designed interactive board books from author Nicola Edwards and illustrator Maria Neradova.

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With adorable illustrations and an enchanting text, these clever books introduce little ones to first experiences in a fun and friendly way and encourage them to join in the activities with Bear and Mouse by pushing slides and lifting flaps.

From the wakey, wakey, rise and shine, sharing breakfast and getting ready for the day, to winding down for a bath, putting on pyjamas and enjoying a bedtime story, there is so much to share and learn along the way.

(Little Tiger Press, board books, £6.99 each)

The Miseducation of Evie Epworth

Matson Taylor

SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD Evie Epworth is on the cusp of womanhood, and her much-anticipated entry into the big wide world of grown-ups... but it’s 1962 and they do things differently there.

If the year of the pandemic has given you little cause to laugh out loud, then lift your spirits and recharge your batteries as you dive into Matson Taylor’s Yorkshire-flavoured, nostalgia-laden debut novel, and enjoy a hearty guffaw on every page.

Imbued with the richly flavoured dry humour of Alan Bennett and all the wicked teen angst of Adrian Mole, but with a delightfully ebullient and seductive feminist twist, the Radio 2 Book Club Pick, The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, is one of the funniest, wittiest and most joyful books you will read this year.

Taylor, a design historian and academic writing tutor, grew up among farming stock in the flatlands of East Yorkshire and like all good novelists, he ‘knows’ his brilliantly drawn cast of charismatic characters inside out… their mores and manners, their time and place, and what really makes them tick. And it is these quintessentially Yorkshire folk who steal the show as we set forth on a coming-of-age odyssey with the enchanting Evie who must not only negotiate her future, but battle to save her widower father from the money-grubbing, lavender-soaked clutches of her soon-to-be stepmother Christine.

DEBUT CLASSIC: Matson Taylor

In the summer of 1962, Evie Epworth has taken her O-level exams and must now decide what kind of a woman she will become, and what she is going to do with the rest of her life.

Up until now, her existence at her father Arthur’s farm has been nothing special… a patchwork of school, Girl Guides, cows, village fetes and her personal pride at being the fastest milk bottle delivery girl in East Yorkshire.

Evie’s best friend Margaret is ‘destined for teaching’ but, inspired by her idols (Charlotte Brontë, Shirley MacLaine and the Queen), Evie dreams of a more independent life, far away from her rural home… a world of glamour lived under the bright lights of London (or maybe even Leeds). Standing in the way of these dreams is the buxom Christine, the farm’s scheming, manipulative, live-in housekeeper whose predilections are the colour pink, listening to Mantovani LPs, drinking Babycham, wearing cleavage-bolstering dresses, and who has designs on marrying Arthur and selling off the farm to builders.

And what’s more, Christine has lined up Evie for a life of shampoo-and-set drudgery at the local hair salon, and preferably, a future that doesn’t involve living at the farm. It’s at times like this that Evie longs for her real mother who died when she was just six months old, and who remains a mystery to her, ‘a beautiful jigsaw with lots of pieces missing.

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Fortunately, Evie is not alone. With the wise counsel of elderly neighbour, Mrs Scott-Pym and her magic recipe book, and Evie’s two trusty posters of Adam Faith on her bedroom wall (‘brooding Adam’ and ‘sophisticated Adam’), the determined teen comes up with a plan to rescue Arthur from Christine’s pink and over-perfumed clutches, and save their beloved farmhouse. And when Mrs Scott-Pym’s excitingly glamorous and sophisticated daughter Caroline sweeps in from London like a breath of fresh air, Evie finally gets the chance to work out exactly who it is she is meant to be.

The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is truly a piece of work, with an appeal that stretches far beyond those who remember the Sixties and those heady days of Amami nights, sticky-out skirts, Vim sink cleaner, Izal toilet paper, Terry’s Neapolitan chocolates, Juke Box Jury, and the indispensable Rediffusion telly company.

From moments of hilarious comedy – not least a memorable day trip to the Royal Hotel at Beverley which is guaranteed to blow readers away – to tear-jerking pathos as Evie feels the lack of her long-dead mother, Taylor delivers an unforgettable classic.

Taking the spotlight is the irrepressible Evie, a smart, spirited, and thoroughly lovable teenager with a quick brain and an infectious zest for life. Her authentic narrative voice fills the pages and adds vibrancy, wry humour and innocent charm to a story which explores timeless issues of social expectations, gender, identity and sexuality.

With moving flashbacks to the courtship and marriage of Evie’s parents, a sprinkling of magic and mystery, and an eclectic cast so exquisitely imagined that they feel like people you already know, Taylor’s entertaining debut is the best thing since sliced Yorkshire tea bread!

(Scribner, hardback, £14.99)

The Storm

Amanda Jennings

WHEN Hannah married handsome lawyer Nathan Cardew and moved into his imposing house in Cornwall, everyone thought she had found her perfect man.

But appearances are deceptive because, behind closed doors, Nathan controls every aspect of Hannah’s life and she seems willing to let him… until the past collides with the present, and everything changes forever.

Amanda Jennings, who turned heads with her bestselling debut Sworn Secret and has since written acclaimed novels, The Judas Scar, In her Wake and The Cliff House, makes a welcome return to the corner of the country she loves best for a dark and devastating tale of sacrifice, duplicity, jealousy and possession.

Jennings has a self-confessed fascination with family life, the far-reaching effects of trauma, and the different ways people cope with loss. And in this superbly written, perfectly paced domestic drama, events play out against the gritty and atmospheric backdrop of a Cornish fishing port in the 1990s.

To the outside world, 18^th century Trevose House near Newlyn in Cornwall is grand and undeniably beautiful but to Hannah Cardew, who lives there with husband Nathan and teenage son Alex, it’s a place full of gruesome memories where ‘disquiet ferments in its shadows and the air inside is heavy.’

SUSPENSE: Amanda Jennings

For the past fifteen years, Hannah has been playing a game of pretend because her ‘perfect husband’ is a control freak who rules her with a rod of iron… her ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ husband chooses her clothes, checks her receipts, keeps her passport locked away in a safe, and has isolated her from her friends and family.

And it all stems back to 1998 when Hannah was working in her father’s bakery in Newlyn and she fell in love with local fisherman Cam Stewart. But another man had fallen for her… Nathan Cardew knew Hannah was ‘the one’ for him as soon as he set eyes on her and he was determined that she would be his.

But in the midst of a relentless stormy night, a series of tragic events turned her world upside down and Hannah has been living with the consequences ever since. Now she can’t tell anyone the truth because the fall-out would be devastating. So for now, she keeps Nathan happy and does as she’s told… but the past is catching up and the truth can’t be hidden any more.

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The Storm is a simmering, slow-burn chiller-thriller, tingling with menace, suspense and foreboding, as readers are drawn into the lies and secrets of one stormy night which became the catalyst for the destructive relationship between Hannah and Nathan.

Guilt, shame and mental manipulation all have parts to play in Jennings’ powerful, claustrophobic tale which explores the dark side of marriage and the cruelties of coercive control against a superbly portrayed landscape of a small Cornish fishing community with its rugged clifftops and perilous seas. But as we weave between past and present, and the narrative voices of Hannah, Nathan and Cam, the disturbing truth of events in 1998 is slowly revealed and the tensions and toxicity of relationships at Trevose House are ramped up to increasingly dangerous levels.

Nothing is what it seems in this page-turning, evocative and addictive thriller, and with a jaw-dropping surprise as its final, unforgettable flourish, The Storm is one of this summer’s unmissable reads.

(HQ, paperback, £7.99)

Shed No Tears

Caz Frear

WHEN the body of the fourth missing victim of a London serial killer is found at the bottom of a ditch, the police hope that the six-year-old case can finally be closed. But when the investigation team discover some disturbing discrepancies to the previous killings, it seems that someone might have got away with murder.

Caz Frear burst on to the crime-writing scene three years ago when her blistering debut, Sweet Little Lies – starring DC Cat Kinsella, a charismatic young detective harbouring a dangerous criminal secret – won Richard and Judy’s Search for a Bestseller competition.

Since then, both the fictional cop and her creator have been on a roll with the second book in the series, Stone Cold Heart, proving that Frear is the real deal when it comes to blending authentic characters and impressive police procedural with edge-of-the-seat suspense and riveting plots. And now this talented writer is back with her young up-and-coming sleuth for another gripping murder mystery filled with secrets, lies and some jaw-dropping twists and turns in a superbly constructed case that thrills and confounds right through to the final showdown. 

GRIPPING NEW CASE: Caz Frear 

Growing up in a London family with ties to organised crime, DC Cat Kinsella knows the criminal world better than most police officers do. Joining the Met Police was her way of rejecting her Irish father’s past errors but her new life isn’t always easy, and Cat has come close to crossing the line… a fact she keeps well hidden from her colleagues and her boyfriend Aiden Doyle.

In the long, hot summer of 2018, Cat and her father figure police partner, DS Luigi Parnell, are called to Cambridgeshire where the skeletal body of a woman has been found deep in a ditch at the edge of a field.

Six years ago, serial killer Christopher Masters strangled three women in his London house and although the police eventually caught him, his final victim, Holly Kemp, was never found and he never confessed to her killing, despite the rock solid testimony of an eye-witness.

Masters was murdered by another prisoner in jail a year ago and now the discovery of Holly’s remains seems to be the definitive proof needed to close the case. But a few key items of evidence are not quite lining up.

And as Cat and Parnell dig deeper, they find discrepancies that raise troubling questions. But someone will do anything to keep past secrets hidden… and as they inch closer to the truth, they may be putting themselves in jeopardy.

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Cat Kinsella is a fascinating and original lead player… a smart detective but also a passionate, tough and very human young woman who is learning to hide her vulnerability and sensitivities beneath her natural sarcasm and likeable charm. The dark secrets buried in her family’s chequered past still cast a long shadow and she knows that she can only ever let her colleagues ­– and even her beloved boyfriend Aiden – see ‘the disinfected version’ of herself.

But armed with her witty one-liners and an eclectic team of police colleagues watching her back, Cat tackles this intriguing new case with the same sense of duty and sharp observation that we have come to expect as the plot thickens and her personal life veers towards an important crossroads. Tense, twisting and terrific, Shed No Tears can easily be read as a standalone but is undoubtedly best enjoyed in tandem with Sweet Little Lies and Stone Cold Heart.

(Zaffre, paperback, £7.99)

The Sun Sister

Lucinda Riley

INTERNATIONAL bestselling author Lucinda Riley turns up the heat – in more ways than one – in the sixth, sizzling and penultimate instalment of her thrilling Seven Sisters series. The Sun Sister is her most dazzling, daring, and deeply insightful novel yet as we follow the fiery, fiercely proud and fascinating black sibling Electra on a journey from cool, contemporary Manhattan to her roots in the heat and dust of mid-20th century East Africa.

It’s an epic and utterly enthralling adventure in a series that has turned Riley into a writing phenomenon, and is currently in development with a major Hollywood production company. Across countries, continents, real history and timelines, she has brought us storytelling on a grand and groundbreaking scale, opening up the world through a rich tapestry of multi-generational mysteries, dramas and heady romance.

Every novel in this seven-book series has travelled to breathtaking locations and introduced us to some of the influential people of history to bring readers the gripping life stories of the six very different D’Aplièse sisters… with the seventh sister still unaccountably missing. Each was adopted as a baby by an elusive Swiss billionaire, known to them as Pa Salt, and each is now in search of their hidden heritage using tantalising clues left to them after his mysterious death.

EPIC SERIES: Lucinda Riley

To outsiders, 26-year-old Electra D’Aplièse seems to be the woman with everything… as one of the world’s top models, this toweringly tall black beauty is rich, famous, and lives in a Manhattan penthouse stuffed with clothes, comfort and luxury.

Yet beneath the veneer, Electra’s already tenuous control over her state of mind has been rocked by the recent break-up with her musician boyfriend, who left her for another woman, and the mysterious death of her adoptive father, Pa Salt.

So ‘messed up’ that she can’t even tell her therapist the truth of her increasingly downward mental spiral, Electra, who left home when she was aged just sixteen, is turning more and more to alcohol and drugs to make up for a life that now seems ‘false and greedy and meaningless.’ Despite her happy childhood, Electra has been inexplicably ‘angry’ since she could walk and talk… she didn’t know who she really was then and she still doesn’t. But just as those around her start to seriously fear for her health, Electra receives a letter from a complete stranger who claims to be her grandmother.

In 1938, Cecily Huntley-Morgan, the 23-year-old daughter of a wealthy New York financier, arrives in Nairobi in Kenya to nurse a broken heart after her engagement was abruptly called off. She is staying with her godmother, Kiki Preston, a member of the infamous Happy Valley set, on the shores of beautiful Lake Naivasha, a place that is ‘majestic, terrifying, mysterious… and totally inexplicable’ to Cecily.

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As the imminent outbreak of another world war starts to cast its shadow, Cecily soon learns that the wild plains of Africa ‘had nothing on the wildness of its inhabitants’… none more so than Bill Forsythe, a notorious bachelor and cattle farmer with close connections to the proud Maasai tribe.

After a shocking discovery and with war now preventing safe travel, Cecily has few options and makes a life-changing decision. Moving up into the stunning but isolated Wanjohi Valley, she feels

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Number wonders, fantastic fungi and puppy love

Try to imagine a world without numbers, discover why fungi are vital to the world’s ecosystem, get drawing with creative artist Rob Biddulph, and share madcap fun with a parrot called Pandemonium in a dazzling selection of summer holiday children’s books

Age 6 plus:

In Great Numbers: 
How Numbers Shape the World We Live in

Isabel Thomas, Raphael Honigstein, Maria-Elisabeth Niebius, Robert Klanten and Daniela Olejnikova

DID you know that numbers are a universal language? All over the world, people use numbers, employing the same basic rules for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Everybody accepts and understands these rules, making numbers a truly global language. If you thought numbers were boring, you certainly won’t when you dip into this coruscating compendium of fascinating facts about numbers, and how they help us in our daily life and assist us in making sense of the world.

In Great Numbers comes from Little Gestalten, a publisher which prides itself on pairing compelling stories with striking illustrations, and is the perfect book to help children understand how useful and fun numbers can be. How else would we ask for three scoops of ice cream, or know whether we’ve got 60 minutes left to play with our friends rather than 60 seconds? Why does a minute have 60 seconds anyway and not one hundred? Where does zero come from, and what language do computers understand?

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Without the wonderful invention of numbers, we wouldn’t be able to count, measure, and compare. Over the centuries, people have conceived clever ways to use numbers so that we can understand the world around us better, build cities, find our way home, and much more, and In Great Numbers tells the story of this groundbreaking invention. Ever since the ancients first counted out the fish they had caught or the animals in their herds thousands of years ago, numbers have become the foundations of communication and progress, and their possibilities are endless, whether it’s sending humans to the moon, cracking codes, or designing robots for the future.

This informative and entertaining book – vibrantly illustrated throughout by Daniela Olejnikova – puts numbers in the picture and brings them to vivid life. So what are you waiting for… 1, 2, 3, go!

(Little Gestalten, hardback, £16.95)

Age 8 plus:

Fungarium

Curated by Katie Scott and Ester Gaya

WELCOME to the Fungarium… home of the strange and fascinating life form known as fungi. This fantastic exploration of fabulous fungi is the follow-on to the hugely successful Historium, a collection of objects from ancient civilisations, Animalium, a detailed exploration of more than 160 animal specimens, Botanicum, a super-sized book of stunning botanical delights, and the dangerously entertaining Dinosaurium and the out-of-this-world Planetarium.

Created in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Fungarium is the exciting new addition to the Welcome To The Museum series from the Big Picture Press, which enables readers to wander galleries from the comfort of home and discover a collection of curated exhibits on every page, all accompanied by informative text. In this eye-catching new tour, which comes in the form of a large, high-quality book packed with amazing pictures and fascinating facts, we marvel at the beautiful colours and incredible shapes of mushrooms and lichens, and peer through microscopes at penicillin.

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Fungi are sources of food and medicine for humans, but also vital for plant and animal life in most ecosystems. Find out how they evolved, how they reproduce and just how important they are to life on the planet. Illustrator Katie Scott provides the exquisite, detailed images of some of the most fascinating living organisms on this planet. From the fungi we see on supermarket shelves to fungi like penicillium that have shaped human history, this is the definitive introduction to what fungi are and just how vital they are to the world’s ecosystem.

So step inside the pages of this spellbinding book and explore the diverse and very surprising kingdom of fungi!

(Big Picture Press, hardback, £20)

Age 4 plus:

Calm Down, Cooper!

Lily Murray and Anna Chernyshova

WHEN a parrot is called Pandemonium, only chaos can ensue! Welcome to a marvellously madcap and uplifting rhyming picture book from the dynamic pairing of author Lily Murray and illustrator Anna Chernyshova.

Unconditional love lies at the warm heart of this wonderfully witty tale of a young puppy who is the happiest and most helpful pooch in town… until a pesky, misbehaving parrot turns his world (and his home!) upside down. Cooper loves being top-dog at home… his owner Martha adores him and he never lets her down. Until one day, a new pet arrives in the shape of Great Aunt Mildred’s parrot Pandemonium (or Pandy for short).

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Mildred says he’s as good as gold but when Martha goes out for the day, entrusting our proud hero with the task of guarding the house for the very first time, the parrot decides to invite over a few old friends. One by one, Pandy’s increasingly exotic friends arrive and the noise and mess escalates

Pandy thinks Cooper should just calm down and enjoy the party but the puppy starts to panic! Can he cope, how will he clean up in time, and will he still be Martha’s perfect pet? Nobody in the world is perfect, as Cooper discovers in this gently reassuring and riotous tale which has a cheeky and cheering wag in its tail. Murray’s enchanting rhyme is matched perfectly by Chernyshova’s high-octane illustrations in a fabulous rainbow palette of colours.
Laughter all the way…

(Buster Books, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus:

Draw With Rob

Rob Biddulph

WHEN the coronavirus pandemic swept into the UK in March, creative artist Rob Biddulph’s series of twice-weekly draw-along videos – to help parents with children at home from school – became a viral phenomenon.

The videos – featuring many of Biddulph’s own picture book characters – captured the imaginations of families, children, and artists both young and old and have garnered about 28 million impressions on YouTube alone. And on May 21, Biddulph broke the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest art lesson when over 45,000 families took part in his 30-minute class to draw a whale.

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And now an exciting Draw With Rob activity book has been published to let families carry on drawing with him. With 64 pages and step-by-step instructions on how to draw your favourite characters, it’s packed with family fun and guaranteed to get your creative juices flowing!

Learn how to draw your favourite characters – from Penguin Blue to a very Hot Dog – and when your masterpiece is finished, the perforated pages mean you can easily tear out the artwork and create your own gallery.

Fun for boys, girls, and everyone aged three to one hundred and three, and a wonderful introduction to the world of art, Draw With Rob is ideal entertainment for staycations or travelling abroad.

(HarperCollins Children’s Book, paperback, £6.99)

Age 3 plus:

Spaghetti Hunters

Morag Hood

MEET a tiny, opinionated horse who is out for a duck when it comes to making pasta! Yes, award-winning author and illustrator Morag Hood is back with her new picture book… and it’s saucier, stringier and sillier than ever.

The ever-inventive, super-talented Morag Hood can’t put a foot (or hoof) wrong when it comes to comical and creative thinking and this madcap adventure featuring a quirky quest for spaghetti serves up one of her tastiest dishes yet. Duck has lost his spaghetti, and Tiny Horse has a plan to save the day. But what exactly do you bring to a Spaghetti Hunt? A spade, a fishing rod, a jar of peanut butter, cutlery and some binoculars… obviously. Searching far and wide, Tiny Horse catches worms, a ball of string, and even a snake – but no spaghetti. Disaster! Until Duck consults a recipe book and armed with flour, eggs and a pasta maker, sets about making his own spaghetti.

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Spaghetti Hunters is full of the clever playfulness, imaginative power, and endearing mischievousness that we have come to expect from the creator of best-selling favourites like The Steves, I Am Bat, Aalfred and Aalbert and Brenda is a Sheep.

With a storyline that encourages reading and teaches children about where food really comes from, plus eye-catching illustrations full of bold colours and Hood’s unique wit, this is a picture book to share with all the family.

(Two Hoots, hardback, £11.99)

Age 3 plus:

I Have to Start at School Today

Simon Philip and Ged Adamson

STARTING school can be scary… particularly when an angry rhinoceros is standing at the gate!

Author Simon Philip and illustrator Ged Adamson let their imaginations run wild as they pool their talents on a laugh-out-loud picture book which aims to reassure little ones that their fears about school are outrageously and hilariously over-cooked.

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With his trademark, lively rhyme and keen eye for what makes a young mind tick, Philip harnesses a child’s far-fetched imaginings about starting school and turns them into a riotous romp full of animal magic and madcap antics.

‘You'll have such fun!’ my parents say. I know they think I’ll be okay, But what if things don’t go my way?'  

Starting at a new school can be scary business. From rhinos at the gate to bears who won't share, there are all SORTS of things that could go wrong. Luckily, Grandma is on hand to point out that there’s no need to fright, as things could just as easily… go right!

Philip’s funny, warm and comforting story is brought to vivid life by Adamson’s bold, multi-coloured and fabulously expressive illustrations. And with the extra giggle in its clever tail, this is the ideal book to calm all those pre-school collywobbles!

(Simon & Schuster, paperback, £6.99)

Age 2 plus:

Wild

Sam Usher

ALL discerning young readers are wild about author and illustrator Sam Usher’s flights of imaginative fancy… And this brilliant picture book, second of a quartet of enchanting picture books in which a boy and his beloved grandad discover the joys of the natural world, takes us on a truly wild and wonderful adventure.

Grandad and Boy are looking after a cat for a friend. The little boy does lots of reading up about what cats like, but the cat is having none of it… she doesn’t want to play, eat or sleep. And when she runs off into the wild, Grandad and Boy follow her and enjoy a wild animal jungle fantasy adventure of their own!

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Wild is the perfect story for sharing… a warm, wise and whimsical tale celebrating the world’s most amazing animals, the power of the imagination and the special bond between the older and younger generations. Usher’s quirky and charmingly atmospheric story is complemented by a palette of his trademark watercolour illustrations which add extra life and texture to a funny, inspirational, and life-affirming adventure. Animal magic for all generations!

(Templar Publishing, paperback, £6.99)

The Garden of Forgotten Wishes

Trisha Ashley

WHEN Marnie Ellwood takes a job as gardener at a Tudor hall in the tiny Lancashire village where her late mother grew up, she hopes that it might be a place where she can finally put down roots.

After years in an abusive marriage, green-fingered Marnie needs space to blossom but when she starts to dig into the past, she unearths a hotbed of secrets and discovers why her mother had warned her never to go there.

Much-loved rom-com author Trisha Ashley may now be living in North Wales but her wonderfully entertaining books would seem to confirm suspicions that her heart still lies in the countryside of West Lancashire.

Her enchanting new novel, The Garden of Forgotten Wishes, has been carefully and lovingly seeded out of the rural uplands of the corner of the county where Ashley was born, an area which has become the inspiration for many of her gorgeous, feelgood stories. A beguiling blend of dark Lancashire humour, heart-melting romance, and characters so lovable, quirky and real that you want to live next door to them are just some of the many reasons why Ashley’s clever comedies always fly off the bookshelves.

 WARMTH, WISDOM AND WIT: Trisha Ashley

And this delightful new confection of a budding love affair, family feuds, horticultural delights, a dollop of mystery, and a show-stealing oversized cat called Caspar, is brimming with Ashley’s signature warmth, wisdom and wit, and her irresistibly wry observations on the frailties, fears and foibles of humankind.

After living and working in France for the past five years, thirty-six-year-old Marnie Ellwood is heading back to England and taking up a gardening post in the tiny West Lancashire village of Jericho’s End where her mother spent her early years.

Marnie has been running away from her marriage to her controlling and emotionally manipulative ex-husband Mike Draycot but when she learned that he has now remarried, she felt the ‘final shackle’ holding her to the past has broken. Her disastrous marriage wrecked her ambitions to be a head gardener and left her with a deep feeling of insecurity and even though her mother mysteriously warned her never to go to Jericho’s End, Marnie couldn’t resist the lure of a rent-free home at Lavender Cottage and the prospect of helping to restore Old Grace Hall’s rose garden and walled apothecary garden.

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For Marnie, who loves ‘grubbing about in compost and mulch,’ this is a dream job but what she hadn’t reckoned on was Ned Mars, the owner of Old Grace Hall, whom she knew in her younger years when they were both students at horticultural college. Ned was the easy-going, good-natured and kind student who found fame as a TV chef but a disastrous relationship which ended

The Staycation

Michele Gorman 

WHEN their dream holidays to Italy are grounded by a volcanic ash cloud, two families decide a spur-of-the-moment house-swap staycation could be the perfect compromise.

If the pandemic has ruined your own holiday plans this year, Michele Gorman’s laugh-out-loud summer romp is guaranteed to bring some full-throttle escapist fun. Packed full of wickedly insightful observations on the ups and downs of family relationships, The Staycation is just the kind of reading entertainment we all need to banish the virus blues.

From a claustrophobic corner of Heathrow’s manic Terminal 5 to the rural delights of a small village in Gloucestershire and the cosmopolitan streets of busy, bustling London, two very different families discover that seeing how the other half lives reaps unexpected rewards.

It wasn’t meant to be like this. Solicitor Harriet Cooper from rural Gloucestershire has been so looking forward to her family holiday in Rome… what could be better than experiencing big city life and la dolce vita in the sun-drenched squares of the Italian capital?

ESCAPIST FUN: Michele Gorman

Harriet is an obsessive organiser who has thought of everything for this getaway with her goat farmer husband James and their 13-year-old daughter Billie. Harriet has even packed their pillows, but what she didn’t reckon on was being stranded in Heathrow’s Terminal 5 because of a volcanic ash cloud enveloping Europe.

Sitting alongside them waiting for the same flight is another disappointed family… Dan and Sophie from London and their two children, Katie and Oliver, should have been luxuriating at a luxury villa with a spa in the stunning countryside of Tuscany on a much-needed break.

And when it turns out that Harriet and Dan have a vague connection through a shared conference in the past, the two families make an impromptu decision to swap homes and each enjoy an unexpected staycation. For Harriet, this is a chance to explore some big city delights and hopefully reconnect with husband James because the ‘spark’ in their marriage has been ‘fizzling’ for some time now. Sophie, meanwhile, is glad to leave London behind and enjoy the peace, quiet and space of the countryside.

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But the obsessively orderly Harriet – who has been making inventories since she was child – and downtrodden Sophie, who has her own reasons for allowing husband Dan to control almost every aspect of her life, are about to discover that a change of holiday plan can also be life-changing.

Gorman brings us a brilliant cross-section of instantly recognisable family units… the stay-at-home, dependent wife and mother Sophie with her controlling, supercilious husband, and the confident, uber-organised Harriet eager to put some spark back into both her life and her marriage to easy-going farmer James. But, underneath first appearances, and the lively buzz and banter of these cleverly portrayed characters, there are hidden secrets and frustrations which cast shadows over both their impromptu holidays and their relationships, and which ultimately become the catalysts for change.

At the heart of this witty and wonderful story is the blossoming friendship between Sophie and Harriet, separated by geography but increasingly joined at the hip as they use the last minute holiday to support each other and embark on their individual journeys of self-discovery. So if it’s inspiration, diversion and a big dollop of optimism you’re seeking this summer, switch off, sit back and enjoy The Staycation!

(Trapeze, paperback, £8.99)

The Nightingales in Mersey Square

Lilly Robbins

A FRIENDSHIP forged in a Stockport air raid shelter will be the glue that holds three young women together during the turbulent years of the Second World War.

Romance fans are going to fall in love with this beautiful, heartwarming saga from Scottish author Lilly Robbins who has woven the fascinating wartime history of her husband’s home town into a story brimming with drama and passion.

During recent research, Robbins learned about Stockport’s famous air raid shelter tunnels. Hidden deep underground, they were at one time the largest civilian air raid shelters in the country and were built to hold up to 3,850 people.

And when she discovered that the town had also hosted Guernsey evacuee families, transported to England in May and June of 1940 when it became clear that the Battle of France was lost and the Germans were heading for the Channel Islands, the idea for The Nightingales in Mersey Square was born.

As war sweeps across Europe in 1940, Guernsey evacuee families are fleeing their homes and arriving in England in desperate need of kindness, love and a safe place to call home. In Stockport, the residents are heeding the call to help and amongst those volunteering are student nurses Clare O’Sullivan, Gaye Robinson, and their new friend Diana Thornley.

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Outspoken Geordie Gaye and her Irish friend Clare met Diana when they spent the night together in one of the town’s air raid shelters. The young women are all from very different backgrounds, not least Diana who hails from a wealthy Cheshire family and has discovered that life in the ‘real’ world can be tough and cruel.

While the country is under siege from the Nazi war machine, homesick Clare is learning how to be a great nurse under pressure, Diana is struggling to find her place in the factory where she sews parachutes, and Gaye is hiding a terrible secret that could tear her family apart.

With the danger of war coming ever closer, it is their friendship and determination that will see the women through and enable them to offer help and security to the children in their care. But can the girls and the evacuee families make a permanent home in Mersey Square?

Robbins, an observant and insightful writer, brings her readers a wonderful cast of authentic characters in an enthralling tale packed with emotion, drama and the harsh realities of life during the turbulent war years. But there is romance here too amidst the challenges, triumphs and  tragedies, the shining light of hope, and proof of the enduring power of love, compassion and friendship to transform even the darkest days. The perfect, inspirational and uplifting read for summer nights…

(Orion, paperback, £8.99) 

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Dinosaur roars, Stick Man treats and French lessons

Travel back millions of years to hear the roar of T-Rex, enjoy some tasty Sandcastle Cakes, discover a fun way to solve problems, and tag along with a dog on a journey of a lifetime in an eclectic selection of July children’s books

Age 5 plus:

The Little Book of Dinosaur Sounds

Caz Buckingham and Andrea Pinnington

TRAVEL back 65 million years and listen to the roars of mighty dinosaurs! Young fans of these amazing prehistoric giants will love discovering how they might have sounded with this brilliant new board book from high-flying publishing house Fine Feather Press.

At the touch of a button, youngsters can unleash twelve incredible dinosaur sounds which have been specially created in collaboration with leading palaeontologist Thomas E Williamson, and all based on the latest paleo-acoustic research.

Harnessing the skills of dinosaur expert Dr Williamson and skilful sound engineer Jude Hodgsonhann, this new addition is guaranteed to fire up young imaginations. Everyone aged from nought to ninety can enjoy the amazing roars of extraordinary creatures such as Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Velociraptor, Parasaurolophus and Tyrannosaurus Rex which once dominated the Earth.

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Each spread includes a stunning mix of illustration, unusual and fascinating facts accompanied by remarkable sounds, making this book an inspirational way for everyone to learn about the long-lost world of dinosaurs. The Little Book of Dinosaur Sounds is part of a popular series from leading nature publishers Caz Buckingham and Andrea Pinnington whose Fine Feather books are designed to inspire a love – and care – of nature in children from an early age.

Other books in the series are The Little Book of Ocean Animal Sounds, The Little Book of Wetland Bird Sounds, The Little Book of Night-time Animal Sounds, The Little Book of Woodland Bird Songs, The Little Book of Garden Bird Songs, The Little Book of the Dawn Chorus and The Little Book of Rainforest Animal Sounds.

(Fine Feather Press, board book, £12.99)

Age 5 plus:

The Stick Man Cookbook

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

FOOD, glorious food! Join Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s perennially favourite Stick Man and his family as they cook, bake and stir up an array of fantastic feasts, all specially created for everyone to enjoy. Packed full of delicious recipes, designed for adults to use with children and all accompanied by step-by-step instructions and helpful hints, the Stick Man Cookbook is guaranteed to tickle the taste buds of Stick Man fans… and even the fussiest eaters.

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Make and decorate tasty Snowballs, Cheesy Pooh-sticks and Sandcastle Cakes, and get creative with Swan’s Nest Noodles, Woody Chocolate Bark, Tree Top Potatoes, edible Christmas Tree Presents and Lettuce Sailing Boats. Each of the twenty-five recipes is accompanied by glorious illustrations from the original book and photographs of all the dishes, and each relates to scenes that Stick Man experiences on his journey through the seasons.

With a ring binder for practical usage, fun recipes and bags of child appeal, The Stick Man Cookbook is the perfect way to spend quality time with your child and show them just how much fun cooking and baking can be!

(Scholastic, hardback, £12.99)

Age 5 plus:

Metropolis

Benoit Tardif

IF plans for a big city break have been put on hold this year, give your youngsters an armchair tour of the world’s most famous metropolises. Canadian Benoit Tardif’s big bold book, Metropolis, is a truly global adventure as he whisks readers away on a whimsical and stunningly visual journey around thirty-two magnificent cities.

The simple but effective postcard-like pages reveal cultural treasures, amazing architecture and key landmarks, and include cities like New York, Rome, London, Sydney, Montreal, Athens, Nairobi, Mumbai, Tokyo and Istanbul. As well as iconic buildings – the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House, the Statue of Christ the Redeemer and Barcelona’s unfinished La Sagrada Familia – Metropolis delves into cuisine and culture, sport and tradition, population and language.

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With a fascinating world map on the end pages to put the different countries in focus, Tardif’s brightly coloured and fun-filled graphic artwork makes this a truly colourful celebration of the cities of our multi-faceted and multi-cultural world.

(Big Picture Press, hardback, £12.99)

Age 4 plus:

The Adventures of Lillicorn in WooWoo Land

Lisa Moss, Thomas Bernard, Ayelen Lamas, Bram Hartman and Will Dawes

PROBLEM solving won’t seem such a big problem when little ones get their hands on this exciting new book from a creative parent team. Lisa Moss and Dr Thomas Bernard, who together have more than 35 years of extensive professional experience in innovation, technology and education, were inspired by the birth of their twin daughters to put together a book to introduce STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) skills to young children.

The mission was to spark young children’s imagination and dreams, build confidence and allow them to learn more about STEM in fun and challenging new ways by creating the Lillicorn brand. The result is The Adventures of Lillicorn in WooWoo Land, the first in a series of STEM educational books and activity sets which encourages youngsters to use their scientific ‘brain smarts’ to solve a series of fun activities.

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The rhyming story, aimed at children aged between four and eight, is designed so that children solve ten different STEM quests, practise twelve core STEM skills, and earn charm tokens (provided in the back of the book). It’s an exciting way for children to learn fundamental STEM skills at an early age, as well as develop 21st century learning skills, including critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication. With a helpful glossary at the back, twenty collectable charm tokens and command cards, gaming elements to improve core skills, and published in a high quality and durable board book format, this is the ideal way to prepare your youngsters for future learning and development.

(QuestFriendz, board book, £15.99)

Age 3 plus:

Monsieur Roscoe on Holiday

Jim Field 

JOIN a VERY adventurous dog on his holiday of a lifetime… and learn French along the way! Monsieur Roscoe on Holiday is the first author/illustrator solo project by Jim Field, the illustrator of best-selling picture book Oi Frog!, and was inspired by his move to Paris five years ago with his French wife and their young daughter.

Struck by how easily his daughter picked up both English and French, and lamenting his own struggle to learn, Field decided to write a book which introduced children to learning language in an engaging and accessible way. And so to get the most out of our hyper-connected world, the hyperactive dog Monsieur Roscoe sprung to life!

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And here we find him on his all-action summer holiday, meeting friends and learning lots of new words in French on his travels. Tag along as Monsieur Roscoe camps, skis, sails and eats his way through France on the holiday of a lifetime. Each new word appears alongside its English translation, and with a fun, colourful and easy-to-follow presentation, this inventive bilingual picture book makes learning French exciting even for the youngest children. Add on Field’s vibrant, vintage-inspired illustrations and the chunky hardback format, and you have the perfect language starter book for inquisitive toddlers and any child eager to learn French.

(Hodder Children’s Books, hardback, £12.99)

Age 3 plus:

I Can Catch a Monster

Bethan Woollvin 

THERE will be smug smiles all round when little girls head off into the wild alongside a rebel with a cause! Multi-talented author and illustrator Bethan Woollvin – beloved for her uniquely humorous twist on classic fairy tales – performs more of her picture book magic in this monstrously funny adventure starring a fearless and feisty heroine.

Woollvin’s startlingly confident debut, Little Red, which featured a street-wise girl not in the least bit scared of growling wolves, caught the imagination of everyone who saw it and it went on to become a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book of 2016. And in I Can Catch a Monster, this clever, crafty operator sets her sights on the empowering tale of a rebellious little girl who defies the sneers of her older brothers and leaves her castle home on a quest to catch a monster.

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Bo the Brave lives in a castle at the top of a mountain. She’s smart, she’s strong and she is definitely in charge. Bo’s brothers Erik and Ivar say she is too little to catch a monster. But Bo has other ideas, so she sets off on a quest to capture herself a beast. Can she defeat the furious griffin, conquer the hideous kraken and triumph over the monstrous dragon? Or if not, can she at least make friends with them?

With striking graphic artwork in a vibrant palette of black, grey, orange, turquoise and pink, Woollvin’s bold, daring and fiercely comical story conveys important messages about not judging by appearance and standing up for yourself and your friends. The perfect book to empower your daughters!

(Two Hoots, hardback, £11.99)

Age from birth:

Gregory Goose is on the Loose! 

At the Fair and Up the Mountain

Hilary Robinson and Mandy Stanley

EVERYONE loves playing hide-and-seek… but can you find the elusive Gregory Goose? The lovable Gregory is the star of fun and vibrant series of board books which are ideal for preschool age children and come from the stable of Catch a Star, an imprint of New Frontier Publishing which was established in Australia in 2002 with the motto ‘to inspire, educate and uplift.’

These lively seek-and-find books help to boost toddlers’ concentration and focus on the pages of a book. Packed with Mandy Stanley’s vibrant and colourful illustrations and well-known author Hilary Robinson’s skill with storytelling and humour, each adventure sets youngsters the task of finding the camouflaged Gregory the Goose.

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In At the Fair, Gregory is on the loose and playing hide-and-seek. Can you find him on the carousel, is he zooming down the slide, riding on the big wheel or spinning in a teacup? And in Up the Mountain, Gregory is on the loose in a winter wonderland. Is he on the ski slopes, is he outside making a snowman, is he hiding in the chalet, or is he sledging down the slope? With fun and discovery on every spread, there won’t be a dull moment in the hunt for Gregory!

(Catch a Star, board books, £6.99 each)